MANILA, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines has ordered a temporary ban on domestic and wild birds their products, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs and avian semen from the Czech Republic in apparent move to prevent the entry into the country of the avian influenza virus.
The Philippine Agriculture Secretary William Dar said in a memorandum order that the temporary importation ban was imposed after Czech Republic's State Veterinary confirmed to the World Organization for Animal Health that there is an outbreak of H5N8 bird flu in that country.
"There is a need to prevent the entry of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus to protect the health of the local poultry population," the order read.
The Philippines has earlier ordered a temporary import ban on domestic and wild birds and their products from Slovakia, Hungary and Ukraine.
The Philippines was free from bird flu until 2017, when the government detected the presence of the virus in poultry farms in the Central Luzon area in the northern Philippines.
According to the World Health Organization, Avian influenza A (H5N8) viruses have been rapidly spreading, most likely via wild migratory birds in Asia and Europe in recent months, and causing deaths in wild birds and outbreaks in domestic poultry.
